Current Pediatric Research

Background: Children with hearing loss, Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SNHL), Cerebral Palsy (CP), and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) have vestibular hypo function that may co-exist, leading to postural instability and other impairments. However, there is a lack of evidence related to the effects of vestibular rehabilitation exercises on children with these conditions. Purpose: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials was performed to investigate the effects of vestibular rehabilitation exercises on balance, motor skills, and cognitive function in children with hearing loss, SNHL, CP and ADHD. Methods: PubMed, MEDLINE, king Abdulaziz university library, and Google Scholar were comprehensively searched. Inclusion criteria were: (1) Experimental studies, (2) Written in English, (3) Pediatric population (3–12 years) with either hearing loss, CP, or ADHD, (4) Exposure to vestibular rehabilitation exercises or balance training, and (5) Articles published in the last 10 years. Results: Six experimental studies including 144 children met the inclusion criteria for this systematic review. Quality of assessment using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale revealed four high-quality studies: One quasi-experimental study (24 children), three randomized controlled trials (36 children), (16 children), (21 children). There were also two low to moderate quality studies: One randomized controlled trial study (33 children) and one longitudinal randomized controlled trial crossover study (14 children). All studies showed that vestibular rehabilitation exercises had significant effects on children with hearing loss, CP and ADHD. Conclusion: Limited evidence suggests that vestibular rehabilitation exercises improve balance, motor skills, cognitive function, and health-related quality of life in children with hearing loss, CP and ADHD. More high-quality randomized controlled trials with larger numbers of participants are needed to further establish and generalize the effects of vestibular rehabilitation exercises on children with hearing loss, CP and ADHD.

Author(s): Ohud A Sabir*, Atheer M Alshomrani, Wasan M Alqarni, Khadijah A Bamusa, Eric G Johnson

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